Educational Science

World's 1st Plague Pandemic Bacteria Gets New Genetic Analysis

With a single tooth from an ancient human skeleton found in Germany, scientists have now created the most complete genetic picture yet of the bacteria that caused the world's first plague pandemic. The Justinianic Plague killed 50 million people from the sixth to eighth centuries, and was caused by the...

Photos: The Many Mammals of the North American Deserts

A living desert (Image credit: Linda & Dr. Dick Buscher)The North American deserts are teeming with mammals that are both colorful and uniquely adapted to the harsh environmental conditions. Many such mammals have learned to not only survive but thrive when living close to humans in desert communities. This urban...

A brain-eating amoeba is just as horrific as it sounds: It's a parasite that can enter the brain and lead to deadly inflammation of the brain. There have been several reports of brain-eating amoeba infections. For example, an 18-year-old Ohio woman died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba while white-water rafting...

Facts About Regal Blue Tangs

One of the biggest movie stars of 2016 is Dory, a precocious and forgetful fish featured in Finding Dory. Dory is a cartoon depiction of a Paracanthurus hepatus, a type of surgeonfish that also has many common names. This fish's common names include palette surgeonfish, flagtail surgeonfish, blue surgeonfish, common...

Healthy Kids: Homemade Meals Not Always Best

Parents who prepare homemade baby food and meals for their toddlers can not only save money, but may also provide their kids with more nutrients, a new study suggested. The study, led by researchers in Scotland, found that home-cooked foods made based on recipes in cookbooks for infants and preschoolers...

Facts About Clownfish

Best known for being featured in the movies “Finding Nemo” and “Finding Dory,” the clownfish has become a popular aquarium pet. Nemo and his dad, Marlin, are ocellaris clownfish, also called false clownfish or clown anemonefish. Anemonefish are so-named for the sea anemones in which they make their homes. There...

Seeing Green: Pot Changes Brain's Response to Money

Smoking marijuana may change the way people's brains respond to certain rewards, such as the prospect of winning some money, according to a new study. In the study, participants played a game in which they could win a small amount of money. The researchers found that the brains of people...

How Racism Persists: Unconscious Bias May Play a Role

This week's shootings of two black men, one in Louisiana and one in Minnesota, have again raised concerns that U.S. police may act in racist ways. But racism isn't isolated to any one profession, and even people who don't consider themselves racist may harbor unconscious biases, experts told Live Science....

Man Paralyzed After Mosquito Bite: How Often Does West Nile Strike the Nerves?

A man in Arizona who recently became infected with the West Nile virus is now paralyzed from the waist down, CBS Los Angeles reported. Infections with the mosquito-borne West Nile virus have been known to lead to neurological problems, including paralysis, though these results are rare. According to the Centers...

What Are Sweetbreads?

Sweetbreads are neither sweet, nor are they breads. Buyer beware — sweetbreads are NOT a sweet-bread like a cinnamon roll, said Rebecca Shenkman, director at the Villanova College of Nursing's MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education (COPE). In fact, they are the total opposite of what one might expect...